Electric lamp



e. E. MERCHANT.

ELECTRIC LAMP. APPLICATION FILED sEPT.1. 191s.

Patented N av. 18, 1919.

1 mymron ll zv i WITNESS/58:

ZZalrm/Mns ELEc'rRIc LAiaRQi To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, GERALD E. llliziiciinn'r,

of Rochester, in the county of Monroeand State of New York,.liave inientedcertain new and useful- 1mprovementsin Electric Lamps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the ac companying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the refercnce ni1- merals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to electrical appliances and more particularly to incandescent electric lamps and it has for its obj ect to provide as impl e, cheap and convenient lamp and lamp socketthat' will permit the lamp to be inserted or withdrawn with littleeifort from the socket and will hold the lamp secure and in proper and safe electrical contact when in use. ends the invention resides in certain im provements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the

. novel features being pointed out in the claim at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view of a lamp and socket constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention, the lamp being in elevation and the socket in partial section,th'rough both the exterior casing and the interior parts;

Fig. 2 is a partial section through the casing of the socket only showing the manner in which the lamp is detached therefrom, and

Fig. 3 is an end View of the socket.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts. 1

Referring more particularly to the drawing, 1 indicates an ordinary insulating block or plug base and 2 a cylindrical outer casing secured thereto in the usual or any preferred manner and provided with a coupling collar 3 for attachment to the fixture. The casing may be in one or two parts as desired and has a lining of. insulating material 4 in accordance with the common practice. In the practice of my invention, I secure to the base 1 in a central position a spring contact finger 5 that may be held at one side by a screw 6 electrically connected to one of the circuit wires. Surrounding the'contact finger is another contact member 7 having base flanges 8 held to the member 1 by screws 9 electrially connected to the other circuit wire, said member 7 being, of ffcourse, a

To these and other STA aranrorrlca Specification of Letterslatent. .1 Patented Novel 8',

,npplicati ontiled September 7,

.cont'actmember H r This member 7,1 provide f a cylindrical socketshell cut clear the Contact fingena and ts fastener", and spaced 'fromthewalls'jof outer ing The wallsjottlie slielfare divided means of longitudinaljslotsshown in; Fig. 2 into a plurality of outwardly yicldable spring fingers 11 that are iiiqlented near their outer or freeends to individi1a lly wardly projecting".retainingfjsli' andcollecti elyfiery jig g ar nas ram tra se tsWa i ntarwnsgar 6,-p,1jaei, bifa e fingas otherwise 'form'e'ti as to pro'fviueafliiieat the open end of the socket. The lamp consists of the usual bulb 13 containing the film at 14 and an attached lug 15, the metal surface of which is connected to one terminal of the film and insulated at 16 from a central contact member 17 connected to the other terminal of the film. Theplug and metal contact member 15 is encircled by a groove 18 of a substantially complementary formation to that of the rib on the inside of the shell 7- as formed by the retaining shoulders 12 on the yielding fingers 11. Below this groove 18 is a rounded collar 19 of insulated material having a flange or shoulder 20.

\Vhen the .lamp is operatively assembled with the socket, the plug 15 is thrust into the shell 7 as shown in. Fig. 1, the fingers 11. yielding laterally iuntil .the retaining shoulders 12 engage within the groove 18 and hold the plug in place by confining the locking shoulder formed by the inner wall of the groove. In order that the plug be thrust in suflicientl-y for this interlocking to take place, the central contact mem; ber 17 on the plug that contacts with the central spring and contact finger 5 inthe a direct inward thrust. it is obvious that it may be iren idve d readily simply pulling outwardly upon the bulb 13, as shown in Fig. 2, the fingers1lryielding laterally to- It Will be recognized that the bulb and socket connection of my invention is quite as simple and cheap to manufacture as the forms now in use in which the lamp plug is screwed into the socket, while the latter is saved from the twisting strain incident to a threaded connection and it is very much more com'enient for the user to simply thrustthe plug straight into the socket or pull it out with one movement.

I claim as my invention:

' In anelectri lamp connection, the coinhinati-on with a socket comprising an outer casing, alining therefor of insulating material terminating short of the mouth of the casing and two Contact members, one of whichis constituted by an inner cylindrical shell spaced 'from and completely inclosed within the casing and itslining and the walls of which are divided into a plurality of outwardly yielding spring fingers formed with inwardly indented retaining shoulders, of a lamp plug having two contact members adapted to cooperate with those in' the socket, respectively, said plug being insertible in the socket shell by a directthrust and being provided with a circular circumfer ential gi'oove'itithin which all of the retaining shoulders on the fingers are adapted to simultaneously ngage, and a rigid, flanged collar of 'unyielding insulatingmaterial fixed to the base of the plug and litting within and v abutting endw'ise against the. mouth of the socket casing to'steady the plug in the latter, said collar'being also adapted to, abut the rim or the insulating lining of the socket casing to provide an uninterrupted insulating interior wall surface for the latter.

GERALD- .E. MERCHANT:

I \Vitnesses: I RUSSELL B. Gmrrrrn', I l 

